Celebrity Hotel: True Inside Gossip Scandal and Intrigue :: Out This Month

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Celebrity Hotel: True Inside Gossip Scandal and Intrigue

Royalty, Hollywood stars, and the fantastically rich - all come through the doors of the Grosvenor House Hotel on London?s Park Lane, one of the world?s premier five-star hotels. This magnificent palace of luxury boasts almost 452 bedrooms, 160 apartments, an opulent ballroom and a 2,000-capacity ?Great Room? that, over the years, has played host to an array of glittering events from society charity balls to TV award ceremonies.

In Celebrity Hotel, Neil Kirby, a former General Manager of Grosvenor House, looks back at his extraordinary rise from below-the-stairs washer-up to bespoke-suited manager. Whether he?s encountering a naked Natalie Wood, making sure that Luciano Pavarotti?s bed is big and strong enough, or supervising a charity luncheon attended by Princess Diana, Neil Kirby shares the secrets of this exclusive institution and gives us a vivid portrait of two contrasting worlds ? on the one hand, the sheer graft of the hundreds of maids and pageboys, porters and valets seeking to boost their meagre wages and, on the other, the vanities, whims and oddities of the guests themselves, for whom money seems no object.

Neil Kirby began his career at London?s prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane at the age of 15½, washing up in the basement. He quickly progressed, working on a daily basis with Hollywood film stars, royalty, international politicians, top sportsmen, and many well-known celebrities. Neil eventually became General Manager of Grosvenor House, and in 2005 bought his own multi-million pound hotel in Eastbourne.

Paul James is the author of 93 books, including a number of royal biographies, and has ghosted many books for a wide range of celebrities.